Organic farm products in demand, but not available

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Demand from overseas for Indonesian organic farm products has increased in the last few years but supplies cannot always meet demand because not enough farmers produce the product.

Caecilia Afra Widyastuti, senior program officer at SwissContact, an organization in the Swiss private sector for development cooperation, said Indonesian farmers were able to provide less than five percent of domestic certified organic products wanted internationally.

She said there was a high demand for Indonesian organic products from Australia, Europe, Japan and the U.S.

Products under demand included organic cacao, vanilla, vegetables and cashew nuts.

"I was recently asked by U.S. business people to send 600 tons of organic cashew nuts -- but we could not meet the demand," Caecilia told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

She said most organic products exported from the country currently came from Sumatra, including Gayo coffee from Aceh.

In North Sumatra, however, organic farm products have yet to gain export licenses as many farmers were still using non-organic fertilizer.

"This is a challenge for North Sumatra farmers," Caecilia said.

"But many farmers in eastern Indonesia have started to switch from non-organic fertilizers to organic ones."

Most farmers were still reluctant to switch to organic plants due several factors, including a longer harvest time and because it was more expensive to invest in organic farming, she said.

Head of North Sumatra Agriculture Office's pesticide lab unit, Nur Halijah, said farmers preferred non-organic farms because they could quickly enjoy the harvest.

Nur said there were also not many domestic consumers interested in buying organic farm products.

Organic water spinach is priced at Rp 1,500 (about 16 US cent) each bundle, while non-organic spinach is sold for Rp 500.

Organic cabbage is sold at Rp 2,500 per ounce, while non-organic cabbage is just Rp 500 an ounce.

Nur said about four percent of farmers in North Sumatra produced organic farm products and not all of their farms were certified -- which was a mandatory requirement for export.

Physician Ramadhani Soeroso from Gleni International Hospital said she encouraged people to consume organic farm products.

She said non-organic farm products were dangerous for people's health because they could increase the risks of cancer, brain damage and miscarriage.

Non-organic products could also affect sperm production and lower a person's immune system.

But Ramadhani said organic products cleansed a person's blood, served as a detoxification and helped the regeneration process for new cells.

"Organic food comes from farms that are chemical free and free from non-organic fertilizer," she said.